American doctor in Liberia tests positive for Ebola

ATLANTA - An American doctor in Liberia has tested positive for the Ebola virus, SIM USA confirms.

According to Sudan Interior Mission (SIM), the doctor is currently in an Ebola isolation unit in Liberia.

The doctor was treating obstetrics patients at the international Christian mission organization’s Eternal Love Winning Africa (ELWA) hospital in Monrovia.

He was not treating Ebola patients in ELWA’s Ebola isolation unit, a facility separate from the main hospital on the mission organization’s 136-acre campus, according to SIM.

It is still unknown how he contracted the virus specifically, SIM said in a statement.

Upon onset of the symptoms, SIM said the man immediately isolated himself and has since been transferred to the ELWA Ebola isolation unit. He is doing well and is in good spirits, SIM said.

“My heart was deeply saddened, but my faith was not shaken, when I learned another of our missionary doctors contracted Ebola,” SIM President Bruce Johnson said in a statement. “As a global mission, we are surrounding our missionary with prayer, as well as our Liberian SIM/ELWA colleagues, who continue fighting the Ebola epidemic in Liberia. We have gifted Liberian doctors, medical staff and support staff who are carrying on the fight.”

SIM USA said they will provide additional details in a Wednesday news conference at its headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.

SIM has a staff of nearly 3,000 workers from over 50 countries serving in more than 65 nations.